Morning journal and courier., 1887-02-15

the public should require it, might direct the company to erect and maintain gate at such crossing and provide for an agent to open and close the same.
 In 1865 another act was passed giving the railroad commissioners authority upon ap- plication of the town city authorities in- terested to order railroad companies to erect and maintain at grade crossings gate or gates, or to station and keep a Aagman or fiagmen at the same, or to do any other acts which the commissioners may deem needful for the protection of the public. This act
 with slight changes appears in the revision of 1886 and 1875. Up to this time it seems to
 have been the theory of our legislators that it was the duty of the railroad corporations at their own expense to protect the public 1 from danger at these crossings. From g nasty examination of the subject I do not | find that previous to 1875 any portion of the l expense of such crossing was by law charge l able to the towns and cities where they were located. In 1875 the parties interested were given the right of appeal from the orders of | commissioners to the Superior court and this l clause was added:
 | 'sBut in all cases where fagman, gate, or
 electric signal shall be ordered by the Supe- | rior court upon an appeal taken by the se- | lectmen of any town, such court may at it's l discretion, order portion of the expense of | maintaining or erecting the same, but not ex- | ceeding one half to be borne by the town ia | which the crossing is situated The follow | ing year the selectmen of towns were author | ized to petition the railroad commissioners for alterations at crossings, and said | mssioners shall determine what alterations | or removals shall be made, by whom done | and at whose expense. Several unimport-
 ant changes were made in the law in
 the second year following, and in 1884 the l following act was passed: The railroad com
 lnissioners may, when in their opinion pub | lie safety requires an alteration of any high
 way crossed at grade by railroad,
 after a hearing had after such
 reasonable to the railroad company owning ] or operating said railroad, and the selectmen
 of the town, the mayor of the city, warden of | the borough within which said highway is , situated, and to the owners of land adjoining said crossing, order such alterations in such | highway as they shall deem necessary, and 1 shall determine and direct by whom such al ! terations shall be made, at whose expense
 and within what time; provided that in no | case shall more than one-half of the expense | be paid by the town, city and borough afore said. Session laws of 1884, L. 37S.
 In the case of new crossings the acts of 1883 had already declared that where bridge was constructed over railroad the town should maintain the bridge. Another bill is now before the legislature, | I understand, but what it's provisions are have not been informed. That the matter is
 
 ven and it's Court of Common Council 1 think you will all admit, and have no doubt you will give the subject proper considera- | tion.
 In 1877 the city was authorized by the I legislature to issue bonds to the amount of Sl50, 900 to be called municipal bonds of the city of New Haven" The bonds were issued during that year. The bonds drew interest at the rate of five per cent. and be- come due in 1897. But the city has the ! right to redeem them at any time after the first day of July next, and it is believed | that the loan could be placed at rate | not exceeding four per cent. The act ! under which these bonds were issued provid- ! ed that the city should establish sinking l fund, and by the report of the treasurer of
 said fund find that it now amounts to the | sum of $66, 764. o2 ana IS drawlng interest at the rate of 5 per cent. By the first day of July this fund will exceed $70, 900, and there | seems to be no good reasons why it should not be applied to the payment of our debt. This would leave less than $80,0 of these
 bonds outstanding. If the interest on these ! bonds could be reduced to 4 per cent. there l would be a saving to the city of $500 year for the next three years. I recon | mend that you take such action
 in this matter will save this amount to the | city. Whether this shall be done by issuing new bonds or by some other method you will | decide. will only add that early action is . ! the legislature for further legislation. You | are already aware that proposition has been | made by certain gentlemen representing the
 housatonic Valley railroad company for the ! purchase by them of the city's interest in the ! Derby railroad Whether it is for the inter-
 est of the city to sell it's interests or not is a | question for you to determine. If you | saould decide in the negative that will end I negotiations. If in your opinion sale would
 not be prejudicial to the city, then you will ! consider whether the proposition is a fair l one. I think you will all agree with me when
 l say that New Haven has spent too much in
 the construction of the Derby to allow it to ! pass into the hands of any corporation not interested in the welfare of the city and it's | business interests. A mistake made years | ago made the Derby railroad necessity. | feel sure that you will give this matter your | thoughtful consideration. New Haven is not ! desirous, in my opinion, of continuing the ! railroad business longer than is necessary to | protect it's interests. Under the present man \ agement the Derby railroad has made many \ friends for itself and New Haven. This much \ should be said for those who have thus far ! managed and controlled it. The Housatonic ! Valley railroad in it's offer promises to ex- | tend the road to Sandy Hook, open up new | sections of the State and thus bring new cus- | toners to our merchants. It also agrees to | take up the first mortgage bonds, amounting ] to three hundred thousand dollars, at their \ maturity, and thus make the second mort
 gage, which the city has guaranteed first
 mortgage. All these matters will be careful
 ly considered by you.
 In a manufacturing city like New Haven
 it is of the utmost importance that there
 should be full supply of water for fire and
 business purposes. The reservoirs of the ! New Haven Water company at Whitneyville,
 Saltonstall and Lake Wintergreen hold ! enough to meet all demands, but the fire
 department has occasionally lacked suffi- | cient supply owing to the size of the con-
 pany's mains in some of the streets. During
 the past year the company's attention has
 been called to the matter, and it has taken | up something over one mile of it's pipe as | am informed and put in larger During the I present year the company proposes to relay | two miles of it's mains in James. River, Ferry, Collier, Audubon, Spring, Bridge, Artisan | and Hamilton streets and Congress avenue | and on Long Wharf When we recollect | that the population of New Haven, when
 the company was organized, was less than | forty thousand, it is not surprising that some
 of the oldest mains have been found too | small in the emergency of great fire. The
 changes will greatly improve the distribu- | tion in the localities where complaints have ! been made, and the officials of tho company ! express their desire to meet fully the sug- | gestions of the city. The company has, I
 believe, been notified that the city claims, ! under it's contr ct, 8 full supply of water. | Of course the company cannot relay all its
 mains in one season, and, if it could, the ! city ought not to be put to the inconvenience
 which such a change would make. I I call your attention to this matter at this
 time more for the purpose of giving you in
 formation as to the plans of the company
 for action on your part.
 The growth of the city during the year | 1886, considering the times and some draw | backs, was quite remarkable. Over one ! million and quarter was spent in the erec-
 tion of new buildings and additions to old. | This amount exceeds that spent in any prs-
 vious year since 1873 and an unusually large
 share of it was spent in the erection of dwell
 ings. The present population of New Haven
 is variously estimated at from 77, ,00O to S5,-
 900. Or course this growth has not been
 equal in all parts of the city, and in my opin-
 ion the city ought to be redivided into wards
 more nearly equal in population than our
 present wards are. In some of the large
 wards it is difficult to give every citizen the
 chance to vote during the hours that the
 polls are open. AS you have not the power
 to.redistrict the city suggest that the wards,
 especially the large ones, be divided into vot-
 ing districts as provided in section of the present charter. The additional expense